

ShoppGirl
Duodenal Switch Patients-
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Everything posted by ShoppGirl
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Funny / Bad Foot Nightmare
ShoppGirl replied to doobie31's topic in General Weight Loss Surgery Discussions
Glad it was just a dream. Guess you went to sleep a little anxious about your post surgery restrictions. I was a little worried too because I do eat sometimes without thinking at night so I put a towel through the handles on the fridge to remind me. I do this on days I have blood work or surgery and need to fast as well. Just something out of place to get your attention so hopefully you take a second to remember why it’s there. -
Olive oil dispense and measure bottle
ShoppGirl replied to ShoppGirl's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Yea I know I use a lot more dressing than a serving or two if I don’t measure it. I mostly use the spray pam for cooking but dressing is high calorie too so it adds up quick. If you haven’t tried pam you should try it. You don’t get the oil flavor of course but I have totally gotten used to it now and use it for everything. -
Emotional hurdles / Marriage issues
ShoppGirl replied to CarmenP's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I think the fact that like 50% of marriages end in divorce anyways sorta skews our perceptions of surgery as the root of it. Yes you did have surgery but you had like a fifty fifty shot of feeling this way without the surgery. If I remember correctly the rate of divorce increases from 50 to 70% post surgery. I bet a lot of that 20% is probably what we’re already less than ideal marriages but people didn’t have the confidence to leave pre surgery. I believe a good marriage will only get better as one person becomes a healthier and happier version of themselves. Regardless, the thought of ending it with someone you once cared so deeply about is never easy and not a decision to be taken lightly. Obviously only you know if it could help at this point but counseling saved my marriage years ago and now it’s better than I could have imagined. We just needed to learn how to communicate with one another. It sounds so simple but it made such a difference. That being said I went to counseling with my first husband too and the counselor basically told us to just get divorced. Lol. -
Can obesity be a culprit of depression?
ShoppGirl replied to Erin18's topic in General Weight Loss Surgery Discussions
I have bipolar disorder and WLS hasn’t really decreased the frequency or changed my severe depressive episodes but losing weight has certainly made me happier on regular days. I get out more and am able to enjoy things more outside of those episodes because I feel better about Myself (more comfortable in my own skin). As a result I feel even better at the end of the day having accomplished things. I agree that exercise helps with depression and if you are really depressed even getting outside and just sitting there helps some. They actually make lamps to simulate the sun for treatment of depression and SAD. Yoga Is a great idea. -
Made myself feel awful.. old habits die hard
ShoppGirl replied to Lornapc's topic in Gastric Bypass Surgery Forums
I agree that it’s not really self sabotage unless you actually intended to harm or sabotage yourself. Don’t beat yourself up, Just try to learn from your mistake and do better today. Have you tried searching for a sugar free or no sugar added alternative? I have found Many sugar free or no sugar added options out there that honestly don’t taste bad. I had sleeve so I don’t have issues with sugar, but I found Yasso Greek yogurt bars that are only 100 calories and satisfy my sweet cravings. They do have some sugar 13g total and 9g added sugars? I am pretty sure that’s quite a bit LESS than regular ice cream though. I don’t have any ice cream to compare it to. Okay I just searched Walmart real quick and it is less than regular ice cream but Klondike makes no sugar added desert bars that have even less. 6g of sugar per bar (11g of sugar alcohol. I’m not sure how that plays into it). Also, Bryers makes no sugar added with 5g sugar and 10g sugar alcohol (salted caramel flavor). I personally like the idea of the bars cause it’s already portioned out for us. Most but Not all products have the nutrition info online so a little research and hopefully you can find an option that will work for you. If you live near a Publix I have found that they tend to carry a wider variety and have more of the healthier options (compared to walmart). Trader Joe’s and Aldi are supposed to be good for healthy options too but I don’t have either of those I am, of course, not advocating that you eat ice cream this early out but i will admit that I tried a few treats just to see if I could eat them once I got to regular food such as chocolate, pizza and pasta. For me it was a mindset thing. Once I knew I could tolerate them in small amounts and eventually have them later it was that much easier to do without them until maintenance. Everyone is different though. All we can do is what we think is best for us. I hope this helps -
Pre & Post Surgery Must Haves
ShoppGirl replied to Kcfromkc's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Arabesque said all I can think of. I will just reiterate that you shouldn’t stock up too much on anything that someone else in your house won’t use, especially shakes because tastes change (especially for sweet things). -
Olive oil dispense and measure bottle
ShoppGirl replied to ShoppGirl's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Pre surgery I never measured it but when Calorie counting I measure everything. And salad dressing I have been measuring in those little one ounce cups because one ounce is two tablespoons which is one serving but I thought maybe the bottle would be easier. If I don’t get an answer here I’m thinking for 9 bucks it’s worth a try. -
Trying to get out of my head....
ShoppGirl replied to SleeveToBypass2023's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I haven’t experienced this but I have heard of it. It’s basically swapping out one disordered eating behavior for another. Hopefully you will find some advice on here but it also couldn’t hurt to see a specialist. Many people on here have such great things to say about bariatric therapy and it seems to have helped them a great deal. I say you have come this far, what’s one more appointment to see if it feels like a good fit and if you think they can help you. -
Yea but they ask you if you have been exposed or if you had a test that was positive when you do a test (or at least they have always asked me). Plus I would want to warn the nurse doing the test that I had tested positive before removing my mask so they could try to be extra careful and hopefully not catch it themselves. Also, I would be worried that I may not be physically fit to do surgery. if you have any symptoms at all that cough seems to linger long past the negative follow up test on this variant (my husband just had it). That would make me worry about the safety of doing the procedure. I personally would want the doctor to be aware of everything like that. If totally asymptomatic you may be fine although I think I would still ask the dr just to be safe. I know waiting a number of days sucks when your ready to do this but not if it helps prevent a serious complication. It’s always best to be totally honest with your team.
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Transitioning from shakes to food
ShoppGirl replied to Candigrl1's topic in Post-op Diets and Questions
I was advised to slowly decrease the Shakes as I was able to eat larger portions. If you can only eat an ounce of chicken you aren’t going to be able to get enough protein from food. Well technically if you also eat a bunch of yogurt you can but you get my point. I am over a year out and still have a shake for breakfast everyday but that’s more for convenience and cause I like the taste of it (the caffe latte by premiere protein) many people get off them alltogether. But my advice would be to calculate your protein (not counting the shakes and yogurt) for a week or so and see if you consistently get to 30 or 60 or something like that and drop a shake as you can or just calculate for each day if you eat a lot of variety and have a shake or yogurt as a late snack if you need it. -
Ooh yea some people love to tell those types of stories. It’s almost as if those people NEED to have a heavy friend or two in their life to make them feel better about themselves and one that “failed” again post WLS is even better. They need to think of obesity as a moral failure of sorts and that’s how they are superior because they aren’t as heavy. Stuff like that gets to me for a moment from time to time but when I really think about it, i just honestly feel sad for them. Think about what must be missing in their life for them to have things so twisted.
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I’m sorry if that seemed offensive or something. I just honestly had no clue the calories were so high and thought I would share it with you in case you didn’t either.
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Ooh yea I know and that’s why I said just be careful when you can actually eat more because a half rack is a normal serving which eventually you will get closer to most likely. A half rack is only 4 ounces of meat according to what I read online.
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Things I can eat on vacation 6 weeks post-op
ShoppGirl replied to Rosebud32's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
Can you get some protein shakes shipped to your hotel via Amazon or something? -
Just be careful with the pork ribs as you are able to eat larger servings. I recently learned just a half rack of ribs was like 688 calories and 45 grams of fat BEFORE the sauce. And that’s baby back which are the leanest cut. The same amount of chicken breast is 190 calories. Ignore if you already knew this but I had no clue and was totally floored by the calorie and fat content.
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Eating too much? 3 - 4 weeks Post op
ShoppGirl replied to Veritas34's topic in Post-op Diets and Questions
I was able to eat more than expected through every phase of recovery. I just had to measure and only eat what I was supposed to be eating but they said it would be fine and it was. The main goal is for you to eventually get to a relatively normal serving size and to stay there. At almost 16 months out I am still eating about a serving of most things. -
Aha. Good call. That would be quite embarrassing cause it’s at a public pool. I don’t have a pool but we do have chlorine so I could add a bit to a bucket of water to sorta simulate.
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I had a malignant melanoma about five years ago so I am not supposed to go into the sun anymore which when I was heavier I always wore long pants so it didn’t much matter that I was ghostly. As I am losing weight I am starting to wear shorts and my pasty white legs are hard to miss in south FLORIDA where everyone else is golden bronze. I am starting to look into spray tanning but I am just wondering if there are any things to consider or tips and tricks to doing this with a plus sized body? The salon near me has mystic tan booth if that makes a difference. I am pretty sure my larger bust is going to be my biggest challenge but are there others??
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Ooh and I used the build a tan version on my face but apply it like twice a day to make it darker. It’s still lighter than my body but not gleaning white so I am happy.
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Update. I still don’t want to splurge on the professional spray tan and have tried the Jergens build a tan a couple times but didn’t get enough color (I used the fair to medium because I have fair skin). I finally bought the instant Version by Jergens in LIGHT bronze from Amazon (they carry it in Walmart just not mine apparently) and so far I love it. I was able to do it all myself but my back and my hubby did that part for me. It dries pretty quick and this morning I woke up to a light glow. It says if you want more color to do it again the next day which I may try just to see but I think the darker you get the more you will be able to see the darker patches that are inevitable with fake tan. I have a pool party to go to next Saturday and I am hoping to perfect this by then. The one thing I regret I didn’t do was to apply lotion to my dry spots beforehand because they didn’t get dark with the build a tan so I thought I was good but my knees and ankles did get a bit blotchy. Hubby uses fake tan and says to just rub off with a wash cloth in shower and do a light second coat allover so I will try that tonight. Anyways for those afraid of being too dark or Orange this light bronze should be good option for you too.
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Chips and salsa and bad eating day
ShoppGirl replied to Brittneykdelacruz's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
I am over a year out and in maintenance. I still choose to have a shake for breakfast daily 160, one of a handful of lunches that I know are around 300 calories, a choice of dinners under 500 and a couple of snack options right around 100 calories each. I have never eaten a ton of variety because I am pretty picky so this works for me. Someone with a lot of variety this totally wouldn’t work for. I can keep a pretty rough idea in my head. I basically just know if I ate to plan yes or no for my meals and how many snacks I have had and then I know if I’m on track for the day or not. (I know how many I can have after working it out actually logging for quite a while though). Some days my dinner may be less calories but other days I am super hungry and I have an extra snack so it balances out. Basically I semi log my food at this point but I do it in my head counting by 100’s. But I agree it is very good to do it in the beginning and do it for a good while because we first need to figure out where our calories need to be to lose and to maintain but also because there are foods that we just really don’t know how many calories are hidden in them. For me a big one was baby back ribs. Odd I know. I guess I just assumed it’s a meat. It’s innocent. It’s not a desert or a dreaded carb, right? And I knew the sauce was bad but the meat itself doesn’t have sugar so when I found a descent sugar free BBQ sauce I thought I had this meal all figured out. Well, did you know a HALF rack of baby back ribs has 668 calories WITHOUT sauce and 45 grams of fat!! That’s only about 4 oz of meat so a comparable chicken breast is only 190 calories sans the sauce. I am in my 40’s and I just learned this about ribs. I had never logged them because I don’t eat them often enough but I had a couple ribs on Father’s Day and I’ve been craving them ever since so I researched them a little. Guess I may just have to wait till next time i can have a couple off someone else’s plate, lol Anyways, my point is logging foods helps you to learn what is in most foods so you know if they are totally safe (green light), sorta pushing it (yellow light) or a total splurge (red light that you can run on occasion if you are in maintenance and have budgeted for it). Logging also helps you to learn little tricks you can live with for your favorite meals like the sugar free sauce, veggie substitutions, lower carb bread options, etc to make them a little better for you. Once you learn these things about most foods you will encounter day to day, a more “intuitive version of eating” seems more doable in my opinion. For me the ribs are a definite non runnable red light as I have gained 3 pounds above my happy weight I am not allowing myself ANY red light or yellow light foods until I drop these three pounds (I have also cut back on my snacks for the time being to make it go a bit faster). At almost 16 months out now this is the first time I have gained past my happy weight so I am making this up as I go but so far I have lost a pound and a half with this plan so it seems to be working for me. A lot of people like to use apps like my fitness pal for logging. Like anything else It takes a while to get it set up but once you do they say it’s goes pretty quick. I did it the old fashioned way which allowed me to keep a page of frequent meals so I could quickly add those. It’s just whatever works for you. Some people on here say they take a day off each week from logging or they only log on weekdays, etc. just commit to what you can because anything is better than not logging at all. -
Chips and salsa and bad eating day
ShoppGirl replied to Brittneykdelacruz's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
Oh really. I was thinking it could work If the salsa doesn’t just run right off. Guess you may sorta have to balance it a bit. Then again I guess you kinda do with tortillas too. Maybe put just a bit of salt on the cucumber if you miss that salty taste?? Idk sounds kinda good to me. -
I can’t drink enough liquids
ShoppGirl replied to Mphthegreat's topic in Post-op Diets and Questions
They have those one ounce cups on Amazon. But the hospital actually gave me medicine cups to use. The one ounce is good to use later to measure sauces too though and to take dressing with you. One ounce is the same as two tablespoons. So when you want to count calories for salad dressings and stuff they come In handy as well as when you want to take your own lower calorie dressing with you. -
I can’t drink enough liquids
ShoppGirl replied to Mphthegreat's topic in Post-op Diets and Questions
Lizonaplane covered all the suggestions of ways to get more down. If you can’t and you do start to see signs of dehydration your doctor should be able to arrange for you to get fluids as an out patient. Still Not ideal but at least it’s better than another hospital bill. -
Taking ibuprofen right after I check out from the hospital
ShoppGirl replied to Supafly82's topic in PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I didn’t have it but from hanging out here I have learned that the pain medicine doesn’t do anything for the gas pains anyways. I have heard that heating pad and gas ex can help some but the only thing that really helps is waking.